76 '^he Philippine Journal of Science i9i6 



faith of Mr. Parry in making this statement and the vendors 

 for selling hydnocarpus oils as a substitute for chaulmoogra oil. 



The controversy aroused by the expressed opinion of Mr. 

 Parry in regard to the oils included under the nomenclature 

 chaulmoogra is illustrative of the uncertainty surrounding the 

 sources and properties of these oils. Similar uncertainty is 

 found in the literature elsewhere. The United States Dispen- 

 satory,* under Gynocardia odorata, gives the name of the oil as 

 chaulmoogra oil and states that it owes its physiological activity 

 to the presence of free gynocardic acid. This uncertainty 

 should be cleared up as promptly as possible, since the well-being 

 of a very unfortunate, large class of people is dependent on our 

 accurate knowledge of the properties of chaulmoogra oil. Chaul- 

 moogra oil is recognized as the most promising remedy for the 

 treatment of leprosy. If the hydnocarpus oils have properties 

 giving them similar physiological effects, to have this definitely 

 proved will bring about a lowering in the cost of the chaulmoogra 

 treatment, since larger quantities of oil will be available for use, 

 and will allay the fear of fraudulent substitution of chaulmoogra 

 by hydnocarpus. 



Attention is called to the investigations directed by Mr. Power 

 on the oils from the seeds of Taraktogenos kurzii,^ Hydnocarpus 

 wightiana,^ Hydnocarpus anthelminticus,'' and Gynocardia odor- 

 ata.^ It is the purpose of this article to present some data ob- 

 tained by me in an investigation of the seeds of Hydnocarpus 

 venenata. 



A summary of the results obtained by investigators will be 

 found in the latter part of this article. 



HYDNOCARPUS VENENATA » 



Hydnocarpus venenata belongs to the same family as Tarak- 

 togenos kurzii, Hydnocarpus wightiana, Hydnocarpus anthel- 

 minticus, Hydnocarpus alcalae, and Pangium edule. The last two 

 species are indigenous to the Philippine Islands, and I hope to 

 secure material for an investigation of their properties. There 

 are other indigenous species of the Bixineae which possibly may 

 become sources of chaulmoogra oil. 



*U. S. Dispensatory, 18th ed. (1899), 1678. 

 'Power and Gornall, Joum. Chem. Soc. London (1904), 85, 838. 

 •Power and Barrowcliff, ibid. (1905), 87, 884. 

 'Ibid. (1905), 87, 884. 

 'Ibid. (1905), 87, 896. 



* These nuts were obtained through the kindness of Mr. H. G. Carter, 

 economic botanist, Calcutta, India. 



